An eastern Kentucky manufacturing plant on the brink of closing last year now plans to expand and hire 70 more workers.

A statement from the governor's office says West Virginia-based Logan Corp.'s plant in Martin County has shifted from making mining equipment to designing and building custom dump truck beds. The venture has been so successful that the company is now moving from its 27,000 square-foot building to a 137,000 square-foot facility in Magoffin County, which has one of the state's highest unemployment rates due to the downturn in the coal economy.

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The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved a loan and incentive package last week that allows Logan to make the move.

The statement says the new facility could be operational by this fall.

Logan, based in Nitro, West Virginia, provides services for the mining, railroad, industrial, construction and power-generation industries.